The News Columnist

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc., the world’s biggest social networking site, agreed to settle complaints by the Federal Trade Commission that it failed to protect users’ privacy or disclose how their data could be used.

The proposed 20-year agreement would require Palo Alto, California-based Facebook to get clear consent from users before sharing material posted under earlier, more restrictive terms, the FTC said yesterday in a statement. It would also compel independent reviews of Facebook’s privacy practices.

“Companies must live up to their promises about privacy,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said on a conference call with reporters. The settlement “will protect consumer choices and ensure they have full and truthful information about their data.”

The U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank as well as the central banks of Canada, Britain, Japan and Switzerland agreed to lower the cost of existing dollar swap lines -- reducing the cost of temporary dollar loans to banks -- by half a percentage point.

Financial, energy, materials and industrial stocks, among those seen most economically sensitive, led gains, though all S&P 500 sectors rose. Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) rose 3 percent to $5.22 after hitting a near 3-year low, while JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) added 6.3 percent to $30.36.

LONDON (AP) - Britain ordered Iran on Wednesday to remove all its diplomats from the UK within 48 hours following attacks on its embassy and a residential compound in Tehran - one of the most significant diplomatic retaliations against Iran since the ...

LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A coordinated move by leading central banks to grease the wheels of the global banking system is likely to be followed by other steps to prevent the euro zone debt crisis from triggering a full-blown credit crunch and economic recession. Success is far from guaranteed.